I need a new pump with a gauge for the home and i am thinking ill probably need a mini-pump for taking on rides. Just looking for some recommendations, im a student, so cheap would be nice, but also good pumps are an investment which I intend to keep long term, so i dont mind spending the money needed to get durability, and necessary performance. Thanks.

Last edited by senator52 on Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'd recommend a Topeak Road Morph. It fits on the bike and unfolds to become a floor pump with a pressure gauge. It pumps up to 110 PSI. One foot holds it to the floor and one can pump it quite easily. It all folds up quite easily and comes with it's own bracket to attach to the bike frame.

I was looking at a brand new version of the Topeak pumpt today and they have fixed a couple of design problems with it, in particular the foot mount. However I see it as a compromise between the mini and the floor.

this anti-minipump sentiment, does it still hold for someone who probably don't ride as much as you guys do?
i.e., only about 20 mins each day.
running 700x28 wheels

do i really need both a floor pump and the much praised pocket rocket? or should a compromise mini pump like the Topeak mentioned hold me in reasonable stead, at least until i get more serious with riding? (i.e., when i get fitter and actually manage to ride a reasonbale distance without busting my lungs and start thinking of a leaner meaner road machine)

PS. I can probably guess the answer, but what are thoughts on simply riding to the servo, setting the tyre pump to 100psi and plugging in?

Buy both. You can't maintain your tyres properly if you don't have a decent pump and much as I respect Kev's recomendation, I'd be wary of something that is supposed to do both. Buy a good floor pump, not a cheapy - cheapies don't last and you'll wind up buying a good one anyway.

If you use the servo, you're hoping the servo's guage is accurate - remember, it takes very little air to make big changes to pressure in a bike tyre and the bang of over inflating is quite entertaining.

You'll appreciate a mini pump the first time you're sitting on the side of the road with a flat tyre.

People ride long distances without flats. You can take the risk if you like, on the assumption that if you get a flat, you've got a messy recovery, but if that doesn't happen very often, maybe it isn't an issue (lock the bike, bus home and get the car, ring the trouble and strife, hail a taxi, toss the bike into the weeds and take up wind surfing). However, if you intend to fix it on the side of the road, you need some sort of pump. If you're commuting, buy a cheap bike pump and carry it in your pannier or back pack. You can buy cheap mini-pumps from Big W that sort of do the job, enough to get you going anyway.

Buy a good floor pump, worry about the other one when you can either afford it or it pisses you off on the side of the road one day. Personally, I bought a good min-pump for the Europa the day after I carried her a km home after a puncture

A good floor pump is handy to have at home as it's just 3 strokes to complete the pressure top up. I carry a mini-pump on the road for those on-road flats. Sure it'll mean a lot of arm work to get the pressure up, but it's once a few month thing for me, so I can spare the time and save on the weight and dimension of a large pump.

Mini-pump on the bike. Pilot 12.5CFM compressor at home... (What can I say? I play with cars as well...)

Seriously, the small compressors (direct drive) are so cheap now (< $100), it's worth getting one. Apart from the tyre inflator, get an air duster as well - useful for moving bar grips, drying off the chain after it's been cleaned, scaring the cat...

MJF wrote:Mini-pump on the bike. Pilot 12.5CFM compressor at home... (What can I say? I play with cars as well...)

Seriously, the small compressors (direct drive) are so cheap now (< $100), it's worth getting one. Apart from the tyre inflator, get an air duster as well - useful for moving bar grips, drying off the chain after it's been cleaned, scaring the cat...

europa wrote:Buy both. You can't maintain your tyres properly if you don't have a decent pump and much as I respect Kev's recomendation, I'd be wary of something that is supposed to do both. Buy a good floor pump, not a cheapy - cheapies don't last and you'll wind up buying a good one anyway.

Richard is right here. I only use the Road Morph as both because I only need 70 psi max, which this pump is capable of quite easily. If you need a lot higher pressure, then get a good home floor pump.

The road morph is a good pump, and is one of the longest lasting pumps I have had apart from my spare $10 Kmart special which is 5 years old and still works. I carry 2 pumps on the road as I had one explode once.

bicyclewa wrote:I carry 2 pumps on the road as I had one explode once.!

Makes sense, considering where you ride. For city riders like me, one is sufficient as if it failed, you would borrow someone else pump. Another option for those on racers is to carry a small adaptor that converts it to car style valves, then you could borrow a pump off a 4WD jockey in the middle of no-where or use the servo.

I bought an el cheapo mini pump. Not a bad pump but when I bought the good one for the Europa, I put the cheapie on Dean's bike. A week later, after a ride, he noticed that the body of the pump had fallen off somewhere and all that was left in the clamp was the handle Would have been fun to discover that just after you'd pulled a wheel apart to fix a flat

bicyclewa wrote: Another option for those on racers is to carry a small adaptor that converts it to car style valves, then you could borrow a pump off a 4WD jockey in the middle of no-where or use the servo.

Oh where do we obtain one of those ? Then I can use my existing mini pump that I already have

Whch brings me to my second question - why do "race bikes" with the 700-23 et al tyres use the "french valve" over the normal road valve - pressure capability of just physical size ?

I use a decent Michelin foot pump. It goes to 85 PSI easy, takes very little time because it's a high volume pump, and you can use it for the car tyres too. $30.

I have a BBB windgun pocket pump too, which takes forever to pump up the tyre and is really hard work to get to 60 psi let alone 85.

If you have high pressure 700c tyres, you need a thinner, longer pump so you can still get air in against the high pressure in the tyre. If you have fatish (1.5" or larger) 26" tyres that don't go to 100 PSI, then I reckon a foot pump is better, because you have a lot more volume of air going in with each pump.

MichaelB wrote:Whch brings me to my second question - why do "race bikes" with the 700-23 et al tyres use the "french valve" over the normal road valve - pressure capability of just physical size ?

I've seen wars started over this question.

Partly it's tradition.
Partly it's all sorts of arguments about the relative virtues of both valves.
Nowadays, with narrow and deep rims on a lot of racers, I think you'll find the long, skinny presta valve just makes more sense because you need a smaller hole.

One of the big advantages of the presta valve is that it is easy to press the pin to release the stopper on the valve. Some people recommend you do that anyway, just to break the seal. Depending on your pump, a schraeder (the car type) relies on air pressure to break that seal (though some pumps will also physically push the pin down). But the arguments for both can make a long and sometimes grumpy thread.

Personally, I'll be using presta for the forseeable future ... because the Black Beast and the lad's bike are set up for them The Europa will continue with her schraeders because she's set up for them (and being a different sized wheel, it's not a problem having the two different sets of tubes on hand).

MJF wrote:Mini-pump on the bike. Pilot 12.5CFM compressor at home... (What can I say? I play with cars as well...)

Seriously, the small compressors (direct drive) are so cheap now (< $100), it's worth getting one. Apart from the tyre inflator, get an air duster as well - useful for moving bar grips, drying off the chain after it's been cleaned, scaring the cat...